


Rainy Day Friends

by GoblinCatKC



Series: Stormy Friendship [1]
Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003), Usagi Yojimbo
Genre: M/M, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-02
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-04 12:04:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 22,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5333465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoblinCatKC/pseuds/GoblinCatKC
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Usagi comes to Leonardo for help as he is targeted by an unknown enemy. Following the ronin into his strange version of feudal Japan, Leonardo finds himself growing closer to Usagi...and closer to danger.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

From the rumbling thunder overhead, Leonardo knew he only had a few more minutes before the rain caught up to him, and he paused at the rooftop's edge to scan the street and alleys beneath him. Looking through the white glow of the streetlamps, he frowned when he didn't see any manhole covers nearby. His own fault for going beyond their usual training area, but he was tired of running around the same old rooftops and desperately wanted something a little different.

Thinking he might have missed an entrance to the sewer in the deep shadows, he quietly made his way down the fire escape and landed on the ground just as his communicator beeped. Bracing himself for a lecture, he flipped it on with a sigh. 

"Yes?"

"Hey, Leo," Raphael said. "Splinter says you need to come home. Storm's about to hit and they say it might snow."

"I'm already on my way back," Leo said and hoped his brother wouldn't ask where he was.

"You're still topside," Raphael said, spotting the building behind him. "If you were coming back, you'd already be underground."

"I just noticed the clouds, Raph. I have to find an entrance first."

"...you're lost." A delighted smile started to creep over Raphael's face.

"I am not lost." Leo glanced around the alley and sighed. No manholes. Dammit, where was he?

"You are so lost!" Raphael's laughter echoed through the lair and over the communicator. "No wonder you usually take all of us out training. You can't find your own way back."

Lose track of the streets just once and they'll never let you forget, Leo knew. "Yeah, I always get lost every time you get grounded."

"I'm not grounded!" Raphael snapped. "I just can't leave the lair and it's not my fault 'cause Mikey--"

"He's grounded, too," Leo said. "Look, I gotta go if I wanna avoid the storm."

"Just hurry up." Raphael looked over his shoulder as if someone had called his name. "Aww, Splinter's getting on my shell again. Later."

Hoping that Raphael would forget about him being lost and knowing he probably wouldn't, Leo snapped his comm back onto his belt and looked around again. Thunder rumbled overhead accompanied by a flash of light. The storm was almost on him and he braced himself for rain.

He'd dodged purely on instinct before he realized what nearly hit him, a throwing star embedded deep into the brick wall next to him. It vibrated from the force of the throw. His swords were in his hand as he faced the alley behind him. His eyes widened.

The flash and rumbling hadn't been lightning and thunder. A dimensional gateway had opened and a familiar wandering samurai stumbled through, his hand pressed against his side with blood welling over his fingers. Crimson stains spattered his white fur and clothes and with his good hand he carried one sword pointed at the ground in exhaustion. Even his rabbit ears hung low against his back. As he came through, Usagi turned and slashed, blocking another throwing star from somewhere inside the gate. For some reason, the gate didn't close when Usagi was clear. Held open by unseen forces, it shimmered like water in the moonlight of Usagi's world. After a few seconds, Leonardo spotted the horde of ninja chasing him.

Leonardo sent two throwing stars back through the gate, catching one ninja in the throat and another in the thin eye-slit of his mask. His next star hit another ninja in the face, this time so close to the gate that Usagi had to hold one hand up to stop the blood from spraying his eyes. Now there was no time for anything but swordplay. With one hand helping Usagi back, Leonardo killed two more as they stepped through, their bodies trampled beneath more ninja as they plunged forward. They had to come one at a time, but as Leonardo retreated with Usagi at his side, he knew it would only take a few minutes before enough came through to overwhelm them.

"I don't know what you did, Usagi-san," Leo said through gritted teeth as he stabbed one, only to block a strike from the next ninja before the first had even fallen. "But you really pissed these guys off."

"I am sorry...to bring you into this," Usagi gasped, struggling to stand.

"Don't be ridiculous," Leo said. "At least now I can tell Raph I wasn't late 'cause I got lost."

A metallic clang on the ground caught his attention and he spared a glance at a dead ninja's outstretched hand and the tiny ball of spikes in his palm. Caltrops, he realized, small spikes designed to cripple foot soldiers and sometimes horses, and about as honorable as kicking dirt in someone's face. Except these ninja were using small bits of metal only an inch long.

"So long as we're all playing dirty," he said to himself, shoving his weight against the one in front of him and driving him back a few steps, just enough time to reach into one of the little compartments in his belt. Several little tricks lay concealed within, but this particular pouch was sewed into the section behind his shell. It had to be for his own protection. The caltrops Donatello had welded were made of long steel roofing nails.

Instead of dropping them, he flung them at the walls so that they ricocheted and fell to the floor several feet behind the fight, right at the gate's entrance. Cries of pain followed and suddenly there were only two or three immediate opponents. Everyone else was on the ground in shock.

That didn't stop them from trying to throw stars or use poisoned knives, but blocking those was easier than deflecting cold steel just inches from his face. He was about to grab his friend and make a break for the rooftops, hoping the ninjas' sudden disorientation of being in New York would give him time to escape. Instead another gate opened behind him. Even as he turned, time seemed to slow. This gate was different, black and smoky, spiraling at the center and revealing what looked like a traditional Japanese house with paper doors and a handful of candles. Peaceful, calm, it provided an obvious escape from their predicament.

He looked down where the gate touched the ground. Thick black smoke leaked between the interdimensional boundaries and curled along the cement like tendrils, blocking their way out. Leo shook his head to clear it and time sped back up again. There was no way to escape without going through that gate, and his instincts screamed not to try it.

"Usagi," he said, "can you make another gate out of here?"

"Yes, of course," Usagi said, wincing as he spoke but already taking out a piece of chalk. He eyed the black gate but didn't question Leonardo's refusal to use it.

One by one, Usagi drew each symbol, slowly drawing the portal to the Nexus. As he chanted, Leonardo covered him, killing two more and keeping an eye on the creeping smoke until the gate finally opened. He pushed Usagi through and followed after. For a moment it stayed open, giving him a window to the alley as rain poured on the blood covered ground, on the smoke curling towards the gate like something alive. He swallowed once as it came closer, raising up like a snake preparing to strike.

And then the gate slammed shut. He hadn't realized the smoke had actually come through until he saw it fading into nothing. Breathing out, he looked down at himself and realized he was soaked. He'd been so focused on fighting that he hadn't even noticed the rain.

"Are you all right?" he asked, turning his attention to Usagi.

"I'm still alive," the rabbit said, grimacing as he sat up. "Though I could use a doctor to sew me up."

"Hopefully there's one here." Leonardo offered his hand and helped him back to his feet, and despite his friend's mild protests, he put Usagi's arm over his shoulders to help him walk. The maze of streets in the Nexus looked as intimidating as they had during his first visit, especially in the dark. A few torches held aloft like lamps provided the only light.

"You know this place better than I do. Where should we go?"

"Down this way and to the left there is an inn. I'm sure the innkeeper will be able to fetch a doctor."

Even with directions, Leonardo needed Usagi to point out the inn. Few buildings had signs, and even those that did were utterly incomprehensible to him. The inn's sign showed a hand holding an unlit candle. How that meant room and board was beyond him.

When they were finally settled in a room, Leonardo helped Usagi lay down in the bed and then closed the shutters on the window while they waited for the doctor. He doubted anyone had seen them arrive, but he didn't want to take the chance of someone catching a glimpse of them now. If the ninja after his friend knew about gates, then they might know about the Nexus, which meant they might have spies in this world already. Although he knew Usagi despised what he called ninja treachery, Leonardo understood it very well.

The doctor finally arrived, an odd person who vaguely resembled a bear and didn't bat an eye at treating a rabbit under a turtle's care. Usagi winced through the stitches and settled down a little as bandages were wrapped around his waist. Leonardo kept a close eye on the medicine and needles but nothing seemed amiss. Only when they were alone again did he start to relax.

"Again, I must apologize," Usagi said softly, laying still and watching the candlelight play on the ceiling. "I did not intend for you to be dragged from your home."

"I never regret fighting by your side," Leonardo said. "When you've rested, you can tell me who those ninja were and why they were after you."

"Aren't you going to sleep as well? I doubt they followed us here."

Leonardo wasn't worried about them so much as he was about that dark gate and their unseen would-be benefactor, but he didn't want to worry his friend. "Better not to take that chance. I'll be all right."

Usagi fell asleep before he could argue. Leonardo watched him for a few minutes, then reached around for his communicator. Suspecting it wouldn't work, he flipped it on anyway and saw nothing but static. There was no way to let his brothers know what had happened. Even though he knew the symbols for a gate, he could never remember the chant, and even if he did, he couldn't leave Usagi behind.

How had Usagi's gate managed to open right in front of Leonardo? How had that strange black gate opened so conveniently? If Leonardo wasn't paranoid by nature, he would've taken the offered escape. He sighed and leaned against the wall, watching Usagi sleep.

It didn't seem fair to him. Usagi was roughly his own age and equal to him in terms of raw swordsmanship, but he had already left his master, served a lord until the lord's death and now wandered the countryside. Whereas Leonardo felt confined to his underground home, sheltered from nearly everything. Even though he'd killed Shredder and regularly fought remnants of his clan to protect his family, he knew Usagi simply had more experience than he did. Sometimes he wondered how the samurai could even consider him an equal.

For the next day and a half Usagi slept, waking only a few times. Leonardo patiently watched over him, hoping the innkeeper would also patiently wait for his payment. He never left the room and kept a constant ear out for any noise, but he knew enough to realize Usagi had brought them to the Nexus during its off season. Without a tournament, hardly anyone appeared on the street, which made his job easier as he watched through the slit in the window, looking for the little inconsistencies that would betray a ninja in disguise. As night fell, he watched the street by moonlight.

"Still on guard?"

With a smile, Leonardo shut the window completely and looked at Usagi. "Of course. Don't you know we ninja never sleep?"

"I might come to believe that," Usagi said as he sat up, rubbing the bandages around his side. "The ones after me seem more than mortal."

"Who's after you?" Leonardo asked, coming to sit beside him.

"I am not certain," Usagi said. "I have never seen their clan before and they are surrounded by familiar ninja of other clans, as if they use them as a disguise. Even through their masks, it's impossible to see their eyes. This last attack...I was not sure I would escape."

"How long have they been after you?"

"Only two days," Usagi said. "But I had not had any sleep since their first attack. They pressed me constantly."

Footsteps down the hall made them fall silent, but as the sound disappeared into another room, Leonardo relaxed and looked back at his friend. "I'm surprised you had time to create a gate to my world."

"But I didn't," Usagi said. "The door already existed. You did not open it?"

"No, it appeared behind me," Leonardo said. "Someone else had to have opened it." The same person who opened the dark doorway, he thought. "Listen, when you came through, did you see anyone--"

A light scratching sound, almost identical to mice running along the floor, caught his attention. Wordlessly he got to his feet and went to the window, barely opening it a crack. Nothing moved along the moonlit street, but within the shadows of the inn and the numerous little shops along the opposite side of the street, black shapes moved close to the ground. Little white flashes of sparks flashed between those shapes before a small red glow revealed their silhouettes.

"Dammit," Leoanrdo whispered, closing the window. He stepped close and held one hand down to Usagi, who took it and stood with a wince. "Think you could open a gate back to your world?"

"I think so," Usagi said softly. "But it takes time to open a gate to somewhere other than the Nexus."

"Time we don't have right now," Leo said. "They'll find us soon."

"They're here?" Usagi asked. "Already?"

"They don't know where we are," Leo said, helping him to the door. He looked out to make sure they were alone before leading him down the hall to the back door of the inn.

"That's good," Usagi said. "We have time to escape, then."

"No, it's bad," Leonardo said. "They probably don't even know this is the inn. But at least we're on the second floor."

Several windows lined the hallway but he found one that led out onto the roof of the next building. Once he helped Usagi over the windowsill, he put his arm around his waist and jumped with him over the short gap between buildings. Halfway across the wooden roof, something exploded behind them. Usagi looked over his shoulder and gasped. Orange light outlined the walls and windows as flames tore apart the wood and paper inn, sweeping quickly through the rooms, engulfing the handful of sleepers who woke screaming. More screams came from other parts of the street as other fires sprang up, slowly drenching the small village in flames. So this was why Leonardo thought it was bad that ninja must search for them.

"I'm gonna find a place to set you down," Leonardo whispered. "While I lead them away, make a gate out of here."

"I will not abandon you!" Usagi whispered harshly, furious that Leonardo had even suggested it.

"I'll come back in a few minutes," Leonardo assured him. "Promise. Just make sure you've got our ticket out when I do."

Two more rooftops over, he helped Usagi climb down to a small shack leaning against the wall and then brought him to the ground. There was no time to pick the lock. He simply kicked the door in and set Usagi down inside. Before the samurai could say anything, he disappeared back into the street. To Usagi's eyes, he simply melted into the moonlight.

Now that he could move freely, Leonardo climbed back onto the rooftops and lay flat along the edge, surveying the street. Despite the damage, he gave a small smile. Usagi's enemies had made a serious error in indiscriminately firebombing the village. Bright red flames lit the night, giving him a perfect view of the black-garbed ninja on the ground. Counting them, he winced at just how many had followed them.

The faint beating of wings and a glint of steel were his only warning. Too late, he leaped out of the way but a knife's edge caught his left arm running from his elbow to shoulder. Stifling his cry, he clutched the bloody wound to keep it from opening further and looked up. His eyes widened as he saw his enemy, a huge bat with curved knives along its wings wheeling around in he sky and coming back for a second strike.

"No one told me about ninja bats," he muttered.

Drawing his sword with his left hand, he stood and waited for the bat to dive, swooping over the roof in a black blur, wings thrust forward like scythes. When Leonardo was sure the bat couldn't turn, he threw himself down in front of it, dodging beneath its claws and shearing off a wing.

Shrieking and spraying blood, it hit the edge of the roof and fell to the ground. Cries of alarm rang through the street and Leonardo stood back up. Even though he could still move his injured arm, he didn't want to risk a sword fight right now. That left him only one option. Injured or not, he needed to give Usagi time to create their way out. He slid his sword back into its sheath and climbed down the rain gutter, slipping on his own blood and hitting the ground.

The ninja, frustrated at not finding their target, came towards the small shop he was hiding behind. Waiting until they passed him, he stepped out of the shadows and beheaded the first one, slashed the next one's back and stabbed a third as he started to turn. At his scream, the rest of them turned and saw Leonardo dashing across the street and leaving three bodies in his wake. Enraged, they gave chase, yelling for backup.

That's it, Leonardo thought. Just keep following me.

He came around a building that hadn't yet been entirely engulfed in flames. He couldn't swing up into them with one hand, but he could duck into one of the windows. Fire filled most of the wood and paper room but it hadn't yet reached the window, and with a deep breath he plunged into the flames, rolling and coming up on the other side of the room, throwing himself clear through the opposite window. Burning ash and bits of paper followed him out but he was mostly unscathed, though he had to cut off the burning ends of his mask.

The move gave him time to find cover in the shadow of a woodpile made darker because of the flames in front of it. Although the sheer heat from the burning wreckage around him was almost unbearable, he forced himself to wait until the ninja split up to look for him in the calmer parts of town not yet caught in the conflagration. Once he was certain the path was clear, he darted across the street and made his way back to the shed he'd left Usagi inside. When he opened the door, he nearly walked into Usagi's sword.

"Leonardo-san!" Usagi lowered his sword and breathed out in relief, leaning against the wall to support himself. "I was starting to worry."

"No problem," Leo said, closing the door. "They're not very good."

Usagi reached out, traced a finger down his bloody arm and stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Okay, so they're not bad either," Leo conceded. "Can we go now?"

With a nod, Usagi turned and gave the final few words of the chant. The gate swirled open and they stepped through into a forest so thick that the tree branches blocked out the sun. To Leonardo's surprise, Usagi started to back up as if to return through the gate but the portal closed off suddenly, leaving them in the damp air. The only sound was that of a small brook nearby. Not even crickets or birds sang in the darkness.

"This is insane," Usagi whispered. "We should be on Lord Noriyuki's lands, not here."

"Where's here?" Leonardo asked. Inwardly he thought that a spooky forest was much better than a burning village, especially where bat ninja might dive out of the sky at him. He just hoped Usagi's world didn't have ninja that tunneled through the ground.

"The Tangled Skein," Usagi said, looking around as if afraid they were being watched. "Ghosts and monsters lurk inside this forest."

"Well, now a turtle and a rabbit lurk inside, too," Leonardo said. "Which way?"

"I am not certain. I've only been inside once before and I was in no condition to see where I was going."

"Then I guess we can just follow the sun." Leonardo turned slightly and put his good arm around Usagi, helping him walk. "Hopefully we'll find a town after we get out."

"I admit," Usagi said, "being rid of those ninja is a welcome change of pace, even if we must walk through this forest for it."

As they walked on and no monsters attacked, Leonardo decided he liked the forest, although he didn't tell Usagi that. The tall buildings of New York were fine and he even liked the sunny woods around Casey's farm house, but this forest felt calmer, quieter. In the forests back home, sunlight spread through the branches like a wide net, dangerous for a mutant turtle. Here, the shadows covered him safely. Only the wind and water made noise so he knew he would hear or sense anything before it came close. Monsters and enemies could appear anywhere, but here he felt ready for them.

So when he heard the leaves rustling on the ground not far behind them, he had already begun to help Usagi lean against a nearby tree. From Usagi's look, the ronin knew why they were pausing and he drew his swords even as he used the tree to stay on his feet.

"What do you think it is?" Leonardo whispered. "I don't know the local variety of spirits."

"You have your own variety of spirits?" Usagi asked. "I didn't think any ghosts would linger amongst those stone fortresses of your home."

"New York is full of ghosts," Leo said. "You can't get away from them."

He drew one sword with his good arm and waited for their stalker to present itself. Now that he was looking, he clearly saw the dry leaves rolling as if something crawled beneath them, skittering over the ground like a snake. He thought he spotted a white flash now and then, but it was so quick he couldn't be sure.

As it came closer it moved faster until it finally charged toward him in a rush, leaping up in the air amidst an explosion of leaves. White claws and a white kimono dazzled his eyes and he slashed blindly, feeling his sword connect with something. There was a shriek and a splash of blood on the ground, then nothing.

"Where did it go?" Leonardo asked.

"It disappeared into the branches," Usagi said, pointing with his sword at a white shadow flitting among the leaves. "It's a hanya, a female demon. It will hound us until we can't fight back."

"Then we just kill it before that happens."

"In our condition?" Usagi said. "I don't know that we can kill it on our own--"

"We can," Leonardo cut him off. He didn't know why, but the thought of admitting that they could use some help felt like an even worse proposition than fighting the monster one-handed. Master Splinter had taught him to trust his instincts when he suspected unseen enemies and that black gate from before had not appeared from nowhere.

The attack came suddenly. Screeching and dragging her claws against the bark of the dead tree she perched in, the demon stared at Leonardo for a moment with empty eyes before opening her mouth and spewing white threads at him. Rolling forward, he dodged them and came up at the foot of the tree, which he began to climb. It was not easy with one hand nearly useless and the other holding a sword, but the trees of the Tangled Skein grew bent and twisted, their branches thick and warped at odd angles just right for jumping up into.

If the hag could have felt fear, she would have frozen in surprise. Her prey usually didn't try to attack her. But she merely turned and tried to trap him within her threads again, climbing towards him over branches like an animal. When he came too close, she crept back out of his reach.

He wouldn't be able to kill her in a straight fight, he decided. Stifling a pained wince, he brought his left arm deliberately up into the sticky threads. The force of them surprised him and he slipped backward, his left arm hitting a lower branch and becoming stuck as if bound. He tried to yank it free, but the moment she saw that he was trapped the hag rushed forward, her claws and fangs coming straight for his face.

His sword met them and sheared her hands off in the same stroke that took her head. There was a final scream and her body fell through the tree, turning to smoke before she hit the ground.

"Leonardo-san!" Usagi cried, unable to see him. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Leonardo called down. "Just give me a moment."

He couldn't simply pull his arm free. He had to cut it loose, and in doing so he realized that the hag had done him a favor. Her threads covered his bleeding cut better than a bandage could. Once he could move again, he carefully made his way down and walked back to his friend.

"Are you all?"

Usagi nodded. "I am begging to feel like a lord protected by a vassal," he said. "I normally am not so useless."

"You're not useless," Leonardo smiled, helping him stand again. "If you weren't here, I'd have no idea what I was doing."

"If I wasn't here, you would be safe at home," Usagi said.

"I'd rather help a friend than stay at home. Now which way were we going? I lost track during the fight."

"Follow the sun," Usagi said. "This way."

Both of them were glad to leave the forest before the sun set but walking along the road on a moonlit night felt too vulnerable for both of them, even if they were surrounded by unhaunted forests. Just because they had not met any trouble again did not mean the ninja had stopped looking, and they counted themselves lucky to find a hot springs Usagi had visited before, nestled well off the trail.

"There is an inn not too far from here," Usagi said as Leonardo helped him sit on a large boulder. "But no doubt any nearby inns will be watched. We would be better off hiding."

"There are worse places to hide," Leonardo said, appreciatively looking over their surroundings.

The night air was cool, making the water around them steam, and the pale purple flowers here bloomed in the moonlight. Unlike New York where the city lights drowned the stars, here the stars sparkled across the whole sky. If they both weren't wounded and hiding from ninja hoards, he would have considered this a paradise.

Usagi slowly disrobed, leaving his swords close at hand, and eased into the water. He didn't allow his stitches to submerge, but even soaking halfway felt good. As he adjusted to his spot on the edge, he raised an eyebrow as he watched Leonardo remove his knee pads, ankle wraps, wrist wraps, swords and an assortment of shuriken.

"How is it you wear less," Usagi smiled, "but take twice as long to take it off?"

"Because I don't want any of this to get wet," Leonardo said, placing the last shuriken on the pile before slipping into the water as well. Finding a place to sit, he let the water come up to his chest and tried not to sink entirely below the surface, gasping in surprise.

"First time in a hot spring?" Usagi asked.

"I don't take hot baths too often," Leo said, eyes shut. He lowered himself a few more inches and groaned. "Oh wow, it's even warmer further down."

Usagi laughed. He'd never seen his friend so relaxed. "And I thought you ninja were always alert and on guard."

"There's nothing around but a couple of those weird lizards over there," Leonardo said, never opening his eyes. "We can relax for now."

Blinking in surprise, Usagi glanced in the direction Leonardo had nodded slightly towards. Sure enough, two tokage lizards were walking several yards away into the brush. Usagi just shook his head slightly. His own dairokkan, his sixth sense that warned him of danger even in his sleep, was fully developed, but Leonardo's ability to know what was going on around him seemed even sharper than that of other ninja Usagi had met. He knew that Leonardo's master was well versed in many disciplines, but sometimes the family's abilities bordered on the unnatural.

"Are those all the weapons you were carrying?" Usagi asked.

"Hmm?" Leonardo glanced at the small collection beside him and shook his head. "I've got a couple more in my belt but I can dry them off later. Do you carry anything beside your swords?"

"Just a tanto," Usagi said. "I am always amazed by how many sharp objects you ninja manage to hide. And you do it with hardly any clothes at all."

"Y'know, I never thought about it," Leonardo said. "Even in this world, I must look really out of place."

"Not entirely," Usagi said. "Although you don't look like a ninja. Perhaps simply a consummate warrior."

Leonardo stared at him for a moment, then looked back at the water. The webbing around his arm had dissolved and he had to rest his injured arm on the stone above the water. 

"It'll probably be best if I steal something to wear in the next town we come to," he said softly. "So I won't stand out."

"That won't help much," Usagi said. "Your eyes alone make you stand out."

A moment of silence passed before Usagi realized how that sounded and why Leonardo wouldn't meet his eyes, and he started to speak quickly.

"I mean, you don't look like a farmer trying not to be noticed by city officials, and you don't look like a samurai, not even a wandering ronin, and you don't look like a ninja because the mask doesn't really hide anything," he said. He hesitated for a moment. This wasn't helping. "Try to get something with a hood. Like a priest's robe."

A smile slowly crept onto Leonardo's face. "I don't think it'd be good for my karma if I stole a priest's clothes."

"True," Usagi nodded with his own laugh. "The gods would probably frown on that."

"It's strange, we never give it much thought back home. The few times I've had to wear something, I hated how it felt. It's harder to move."

"You see?" Usagi said. "Consummate warrior."

"Not compared to you," Leonardo said, working out the last crick in his neck before sitting straight and gazing at his friend. "You've probably fought far more people than I have."

"Don't underestimate your own skill. It was you who defeated the daimyo's son, and I have heard of your other victories when I pass through the Nexus on occasion." He noticed the embarrassed self-consciousness on Leonardo's face and half-smiled. "And at your young age, too. Quite remarkable."

"I'm not that young," Leonardo snapped, then sighed when he realized he'd been baited. Like Splinter had lectured Michelangelo once, if you have to protest that you are not too young, then you are. "It doesn't matter. You've been through more than I have."

Usagi held still for a moment, remembering his training under his sensei's tutelage, then his short service to Lord Mifune before the battle that left him a wandering ronin. It seemed like a lifetime ago but truly it had happened all within a blur of a few years.

"You told me once that you've flown beyond the stars," he said. "Your experiences are different but hardly less significant."

Unconvinced, Leonardo just shook his head. It would be unseemly to argue further.

"I didn't have time to ask before," Usagi said, resting one hand on his wound as he spoke. "And later I was too injured to ask. Why did you want me to create a new door when that other gate was open?"

"You mean when you first found me?" Leonardo said. "I don't know. It was too convenient. Even though the world beyond it looked safe, every instinct told me it was dangerous. And then that black smoke, the way it moved was almost alive. I didn't trust it."

"You would rather have fought all those ninja than take offered help?"

There was no hesitation. "Yes. I wouldn't be surprised if whoever opened that door also had something to do with those ninja. In any case, I'd rather not be indebted to someone I don't know."

Usagi nodded once. Generally a good idea, but he had been saved a few times by strangers. He knew Leonardo's brothers often called him paranoid. This was probably just a taste of that paranoia. "Are all ninja so wary of trusting others?"

A small smile spread on Leonardo's face. "Always. We don't live very long if we aren't cautious."

"Simply a result of living the way you do," Usagi said with a hint of disapproval in his voice. "In the shadows."

"Ninja treachery has its place," Leonardo said, using Usagi's term for it. "Your friend Lord Noriyuki, I imagine he has spies in his employ."

"That's different," Usagi argued. "Those are spies, not ninja."

"Ninja don't always run around in black outfits and hide in the rafters," Leonardo said with a laugh. "A good disguise is sometimes better than not being seen."

"You mean how a beggar may go unnoticed?"

Leonardo nodded. "Whatever won't attract too much attention. Servants are always a good bet, no one really notices them. Of course sometimes a more elaborate disguise is needed. If the room is filled with courtesan, best to look like a courtesan."

A slow smile spread over Usagi's face. "It is hard to imagine you as a courtesan."

"Hard but not impossible?" Leonardo asked. "I don't know whether to take that as an insult or a compliment."

"Ah, well...I meant..." Stammering, when he saw Leonardo's teasing smile, Usagi glowered. "You just watch. One of these days you might have to play a female."

"I doubt it," Leonardo said. "With my looks, I usually do have to hide in the rafters."

Finally accustomed to their voices, the crickets around them began chirping, reminding them of how late it was.

"I suppose we'd better get some sleep," Usagi said. "We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

With a sigh, Leonardo reluctantly climbed out of the hot springs and began the long process of re-arming himself, drying off the handful of shuriken he'd kept with his bandana. "I'll keep watch first."

Usagi shook his head. "No, I will stand first watch."

"Usagi, you're injured--"

"And how much sleep did you get these past few nights keeping watch over me?" Usagi asked. "You were always awake when I woke up."

"I got enough," Leonardo said, wincing at how defensive he sounded. "Master Splinter taught us a trance that let's us rest and recuperate better than a full night's sleep."

"Good," Usagi said with a triumphant grin. "Then rest so you may relieve me in a few hours."

Outmaneuvered by his own logic, Leonardo just grumbled as he finished putting his weapons back. "You're sure you won't fall asleep?"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Since they couldn't build a fire, Leonardo had to stay close to the hot spring. The night air was cool enough to keep him awake if he moved too far away, so he settled for sitting up against one of the larger boulders surrounding the water and holding one of his swords in his lap just in case.

By the slight drop of his shoulders, Usagi knew his friend was asleep. Or in a trance, although he wasn't sure how that worked. He eased out of the hot spring and sat a few feet away, curiously looking over him. Now that he had the chance, he noticed the multitude of scars crisscrossing his arms and legs. Some of them were long and thin, obviously sword slashes, but a few looked like puncture wounds, perhaps from a spear or sai, and a couple of burns showed on the back of his hands. Usagi winced in sympathy at those. They didn't look too severe but he must have suffered to keep his full mobility, exercising them as they healed.

He sighed and looked up at the stars. Leonardo had traveled among them in flying spaceships, battling alien armies and dueling invading warlords for the fate of his planet. He'd even defeated both the warlord Oroku Saki and the Daimyo's son. Leonardo's skill with a sword impressed him and he longed for the chance to fight him in the Battle Nexus tournament.

That his friend was a ninja complicated their relationship but did not automatically preclude it. Still, he didn't not understand how Leonardo, such an honorable fighter, could willingly sully himself with deceit and trickery. His family used their techniques for good, but they were not samurai. He also remembered Leonardo's discomfiture in the presence of lords. Leonardo hid it well, but he always found a way to slip away from large groups. The only way he would be comfortable in the house of a lord was if he really was hiding in the rafters.

The thought brought an image of several people taking part in a tea ceremony and having to pass a cup into the ceiling for him. Usagi smiled and shook his head. Leonardo somehow reconciled honor with treachery and frequently tested his skill against the galaxy's most dangerous fighters. Sometimes Usagi wondered how Leonardo saw his own life as a wandering ronin. Provincial and boring, perhaps?


	2. Chapter 2

A few short hours after falling asleep, Leonardo woke up and found Usagi leaning against his shoulder, his eyes beginning to droop. After a quick whisper to let him know he was awake, Usagi mumbled something and nodded off. Leonardo was tempted to get up and look around a little just to make sure they were alone, but he didn't want to leave his friend unprotected. Besides, he doubted their enemies would wait to attack. They were most likely alone. The night passed without incident and sunrise found them on the road.

"Stop fidgeting," Usagi said. "I'm surprised you're a turtle and not an owl."

Turning to face the road again, Leonardo resisted the urge to look into the forest on their right and at the road behind them. He doubted anyone would try to rush them from the wide rice field on their left. 

"I can't help it. We shouldn't be out in the open like this."

"They would find us in the forest just as easily," Usagi reasoned. "And we make better time on the road. I must admit, though, I'm a little surprised they haven't found us yet."

"Maybe it has something to do with how we appeared in that Tangled Skein forest instead of Lord Noriyuki's palace. I don't like that, either. Why did we appear there instead?"

"I don't know," Usagi said. "The symbols on a gate and the chant are so clear that it's almost impossible to make a mistake. And I had enough time to double check my writing before you came back." He glanced sideways at him. "Why did it take you so long? I thought you were merely going to lead them away."

"There were more of them than I first thought," Leonardo said. "And one of them had wings with knives on the edges. How many kinds of ninja live in your world?"

"Well," Usagi started, counting them off in his mind. "I've run into the neko clan most often, but there are also the komori clan, the bats, and the mogura clan, which burrow under the ground."

"Underground? Wonderful..." Leonardo muttered.

They reached a large town at midday. By then, Leonardo had insisted that they travel within the forest to avoid the increasing traffic on the road. While it cost them a little more time, Usagi had admit that he felt safer within the woods as long as Leonardo could assure him that they were indeed alone.

For awhile they sat on a low rocky outcropping that overlooked the town, looking for nearby merchants. At first Usagi suggested that he simply walk to the nearest shop and buy suitable disguises, but Leonardo nixed that idea.

"I'm sure they have people looking for us. You're in no condition to fight," he said. "You stay put and I'll come back with what we need."

"To steal it, you mean," Usagi said.

Not looking at him, Leonardo steeled himself for an argument. He knew that tone of voice. "If either of us is seen, we're dead. That includes shopping."

"I will not deliberately steal," Usagi said. "It would be dishonorable."

"Then how do you suggest that we pay for it? I know that doctor at the Nexus inn cleaned you out."

"I still have a few zeni."

"Would that be enough?"

"With a little haggling, perhaps."

"But then we'd be seen--" He cut himself off with a frustrated growl. "No, you know what, never mind." Standing up, he chose the best spot to begin from, a nearby side street with no pedestrians. "I'll get our supplies without being seen, and I'll even pay for it. You stay put."

"Wait," Usagi said, leaning forward to touch his arm. "You'll need--"

Without a word, Leonardo shrank away from his touch and stepped off the rocky outcropping, landing easily on the ground and darting into an empty stable. Usagi waited to see him come out the other side, but after several minutes passed and no one came out, he decided that Leonardo had already moved on.

He sighed and rested his head in his hands. Theft should be avoided, although he understood his ninja's frustration. He didn't mean to upset his friend, but some aspects of their honor were irreconcilable. Not that Leonardo didn't adhere to his own idea of honor. Perhaps a ninja's soul was simply more practical than a samurai's.

Their lives were just so different, the particulars of their honor almost opposite. Leonardo certainly did not act like his swords were anything special, simply another tool in his arsenal like his shuriken, whereas Usagi's swords were his soul. Leonardo owed his allegiance to his clan which expanded nebulously to include his friends, and he defended them with a loyalty that rivaled any shown by a retainer to a lord. As a ronin, Usagi understood that nebulous cloud of devotion, but he also knew that such loyalty could be tenuous at times, easily swayed by emotion or perceived insults. It did not have the lasting permanence that a retainer was expected to show a lord. He frowned. Not that such expectations ever stopped traitors and cowards, and he didn't think Leonardo would ever turn his back on a friend, but without the rigid social structure beneath it, such loyalty still seemed a shaky foundation at best.

Even surrounded by the thick bushes and low boulders, Usagi felt vulnerable to attack and hoped Leonardo would return soon. After an hour, he began to worry. As the sun reached higher and higher, he thought he might be forced to go into the village and search for him but just as he began to get to his feet, he spotted a bit of movement from the stable. A moment later Leonardo climbed back up onto the little cliffside and sat down, dropping a bag between them.

"Sorry I took so long," he said. "I ran into one of our 'friends'."

"Are you all right?" Usagi asked, looking him over for injuries.

"I'm fine," Leonardo said. "I saw him first. Besides, he paid for everything."

"What?" Usagi blinked. "You robbed the dead?"

"No, the unconscious. He must've been a beginner 'cause he didn't know how to hide, but he was pretty quick so I had to chase him for awhile before knocking him out."

Since Leonardo seemed content to merely lay back and rest for awhile, Usagi pulled the bag onto his lap and looked inside. When he pulled out the two garments inside, however, he couldn't help laughing.

"When I said I could not imagine you as a courtesan," he said, "I did not intend that as a challenge."

"It's not a courtesan's dress," Leonardo snapped as if he'd already thought about that. "It's a noble woman's and it was the only thing that could cover me completely. There aren't many turtles in your world."

Usagi had to admit that the uchikatsugi, the wide brimmed hat with a long veil, coupled with the kimono would be perfect for hiding his friend. He pushed the dress out of the way and found his own disguise, clothing very similar to his own with a plain pattern and another broad hat.

"I see. So we are a traveling noblewoman and her bodyguard." He looked at Leonardo, who reluctantly sat up with a sigh. "And where are we traveling to? I have no idea why all the ninja clans are after me, nor do I know where each clan resides to ask."

"Look at the bottom of the bag," Leo said. As Usagi dug around and pulled out two sheets of paper, Leonardo explained. "I don't know who he is, but I figure he might have some answers."

Usagi spread the two wanted posters out, one for each of them. "Ten thousand zeni," he whispered. "For that price, everyone in the country will be looking for us. Wait..."

"Uh-huh," Leonardo said, anticipating his question. "How did he know what I look like?"

"But this is impossible. You've hardly been anywhere in this world."

"Meaning if he didn't know, then he's just a cat's paw. Now I'm even more suspicious about where that other door came from." He glanced over at him. "Recognize the guy's name?"

Usagi scanned the page for the name of the one who'd put the price on their heads. "Lord Nerai...I do indeed remember that name. He once plotted against Lord Noriyuki. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, although I do wonder why he's moved so openly against me this time."

"Then we should go ask him," Leonardo said. "Know where he lives?"

"Yes, but it's a long walk from here to his prefecture."

"So we'd better get started."

Dressing in his own disguise as a bodyguard was simple enough, merely the changing of his outer clothes, but Usagi had to help Leonardo into the long dress. To his surprise, the ninja did not look as ridiculous as he thought he would. He wouldn't pass for a young and slender woman, but passing as an older clan matron worked perfectly with his shell. Once the veil was drawn fully over him, Usagi was stunned at the difference.

"Amazing," he whispered. "I never would have believed you could do it, but..."

"It's not so much the clothes," Leonardo said, "but rather the way I walk. I envy you. At least you can walk straight."

"Yes, and I can see where I'm going." He grimaced as he pulled his broad hat down low. "Well, mostly anyway."

Once they came back to the main road, Usagi couldn't help watching his friend in fascination. They passed many people but no one ever stopped to give them a second glance. When they passed another old noblewoman, unveiled but slightly stooped and accompanied by a male escort, he noticed Leonardo's posture and bearing shift slightly, mimicking the woman. In this way they passed in plain sight, covering many miles before the sun set and they had to stop for the night.

Paying the innkeeper with money Leonardo had stolen from the ninja, they found themselves in a good room with windows that Usagi quickly shut. As soon as he had barred the door and no one could see in, Leonardo whipped the hat off and quickly shrugged out of his clothes.

"Oh my God, how do they do it?" he gasped, dropping into a chair.

"Who?" Usagi asked, sitting across from him. The innkeep had left them a good amount of sake and he poured some in the two cups provided.

"Women! I felt like I was suffocating. And I could barely see anything. It felt like I was walking blindfolded."

"Surely you exaggerate," Usagi smiled.

"Not much." Eyeing the sake curiously, Leonardo picked it up and took a very small sip. "Rice wine?"

"You've never tasted it before?"

"I've never had anything alcoholic before." With a sigh, he put the cup down. "I don't suppose they'd have water instead?"

"Water generally isn't healthy," Usagi said. "You'd be better off with the sake. Don't worry, though. Judging from the taste, I suspect the innkeeper put plenty of water in it already."

With a put-upon sigh, Leonardo drank in such small doses that Usagi wondered if he was drinking at all. 

"Usagi, can I ask you a favor?"

"Of course."

"Please never tell Raphael what I had to wear."

Laughing, Usagi put the sake bottle down so he wouldn't spill any. "I promise. But he's a ninja, too. Surely he'd understand having to use a disguise."

"Mm, he doesn't like hiding. He's always preferred straight fights."

Tilting his head, Usagi gave Leonardo a long look before speaking again. "You are the only consummate ninja of your clan, aren't you?"

Leonardo half-smiled and stared at the reflection of the ceiling in his sake. "Except for Master Splinter, and he seems more like a monk sometimes."

"Is it...lonely?"

For several seconds Leonardo did not speak, and he seemed to retreat a little into himself. Usagi winced and hastened to apologize, but Leonardo shook his head once.

"Don't be sorry. It is, a little. I'm the only one with the temperament for it, I guess. They like recognition, like making friends. Donatello has several friends in the city's homeless. Casey and April are closer to Raphael. And Mike, he loves being cheered by a crowd."

"I remember," Usagi said softly. "From the look on his face, he loved every second of recognition. And I remember your face that night. You hated being there."

"I was proud of him," Leonardo hurried to say, but he sighed and shook his head. "I hate crowds. I don't even like being around small groups of people. Sometimes I think I could live entirely in the shadows if Splinter would let me."

"You were born in the wrong world," Usagi said with a rueful smile. "There are those who do just that in this world, the loyal guards of lords. Their names are forgotten in life so that when they die, it is as if they never existed."

"Yes, but they have obey their lords," Leonardo said. "I sometimes can't even obey my father. I don't think it would work."

Usagi blinked. "You? Disobey your master?"

"It happens on occasion." Leonardo shifted in his seat. "You can't tell me you never disobeyed your father."

"Forgive me, I didn't mean it that way, it's just..." Usagi laughed once. "You always seemed the dutiful son. To discover that you're just like any other child is surprising."

"It certainly surprised everyone else," Leonardo smiled. "After standing up to him, I think I might try standing up to thunder next."

"I believe fire would come before thunder," Usagi said. "The four terrors of life, earthquake, thunder, fire..."

"...and father. That's right. But after that fight in the Nexus, I think I've already covered fire."

"Ah, that's true. Well then, good luck on braving thunder. Just be sure to warn me before you do so. I shouldn't like to be right next to you when you do it."

Their conversation continued for a little while longer, but soon the miles caught up to them and they had to extinguish the candle. While resting on his pallet, Usagi lay his head on the block that provided his pillow and glanced aside at Leonardo. The ninja sat close in the corner, swords in his lap, deep in the trance he'd described before. Usagi wondered if using that trance so often was healthy. He closed his eyes but didn't fall asleep for a long while, his mind too busy thinking about the risk he'd put his friend in. Not to mention that while Usagi himself had no ties or commitments, he'd dragged Leonardo away from his family who probably had no idea where their brother and son was. Not many people would go to such lengths to help a friend which made the fact that his loyal friend was a treacherous ninja seem even stranger.

Upon reflection, when he left home as a child to become a samurai, he never imagined his life would take such curious turns.

The next day they continued walking, taking only a short break in one of the towns they passed before heading back down the road. Along the way Usagi took a fallen branch near the side of the road and stripped it of its twigs to make a passable walking stick. By leaning on it, he was able to take some of the strain off of his wounded side. He couldn't tell how Leonardo handled walking slightly stooped for so long, but the few times he stumbled, Usagi heard him whisper assurances that it was just "the damn veil."

Usagi figured that frustration came less from stumbling and more because Leonardo was genuinely curious about his world but now that he was traveling through it, he could barely see anything. The red torii and stone statues beside the road, the rivers under the bridges they crossed, even the simple passing of several butterflies across their path were blurred by the heavy veil. Usagi's remark that too many butterflies were considered a bad omen did nothing to mollify him.

They passed the next night in the countryside, taking shelter beneath a bridge over a dry riverbed. Once they were sure they were alone, Leonardo removed his disguise and cleared a swath of the long grass. Not only was it more comfortable, but the tall grass on either side of them kept them well hidden. Sleeping so close together would have been uncomfortable but Usagi insisted that Leonardo actually sleep, choosing to keep watch instead.

To his surprise, he discovered that Leonardo couldn't stay still in his sleep. After a few minutes, the ninja winced and turned, trapped in a nightmare. Usagi leaned close but Leonardo's murmurs were indecipherable. Perhaps ninja were trained to stay silent even during sleep? He decided Leonardo must have been, watching him open his mouth in a silent cry. Hoping his friend wouldn't lash out suddenly, he lay down and put an arm over him. The restless tossing didn't stop but it did lessen, and he turned slightly into Usagi's embrace.

An eyeblink and the suns' beams through the grass woke him. Sitting up too fast, Usagi hit his head on the low bridge and muttered a curse.

"You all right?" Leonardo mumbled, rising up on one arm.

"Yes," Usagi said, rubbing the sore spot on his head. "But I'm afraid I fell asleep last night. I thought I'd only closed my eyes for a second...I didn't even feel that tired..."

"It was bound to catch up with us. Besides, we're still alive, so no harm done." After stretching, he crept out from under their shelter and scanned the surrounding fields. "Looks clear."

"Good. If we push on as hard as yesterday, we should reach Nerai's territory by nightfall. Perhaps it is fortunate we did not arrive at the Geishu province. Lord Noriyki could have given us horses, but we would be at least a week out."

When he didn't hear a reply, Usagi turned and found Leonardo back in his disguise but holding the hat out at arm's length. From the look on his face, Usagi didn't need him to speak to know what he was thinking.

"It's only for one more day," he said, putting on his own hat.

"A very long day," Leo sighed.

After an hour of walking, the road filled with other travelers, wood cutters, nobility and merchants alike. Since they couldn't talk without giving themselves away, they traveled in silence, and Usagi took advantage of his disguise as a family bodyguard to keep very close.

Although the day had started out sunny, clouds gradually covered the sky and rain turned everything a dismal grey. Lightning flashed overhead and the dry river that followed the road now flowed with an ever-increasing amount of water. Neither of them needed an umbrella and while other travelers took shelter in the occasional shrine and roadside inn, both of them walked steadily down the road, although while Usagi could rely on his geta sandals to keep him out of the mud, Leonardo had to walk on the side of the road in the grass. Despite the chill and huge raindrops, Usagi smiled. At least now they could talk freely.

"Looks like we get to face lightning sooner than we thought," he said.

"If we make it without being struck," Leonardo said, "I won't mind if we skip the earthquake."

"I doubt we'll be struck." Usagi pointed towards their left at the rice fields. Bright flashes lit up the dark clouds. "See, we're at the edge of the storm."

"Well, at least this damn veil let's me see lightning," Leonardo muttered. "I wish we could've waited out the storm somewhere, but there'd be too many people with us. There's no way I could hide for long."

"Just a few more miles," Usagi said. "We'll have to leave our disguises when we cross into Lord Nerai's territory since we have no traveling papers, but--"

His words died in his throat. A bolt of lightning highlighted the arrow Leonardo held in one outstretched arm, its tip flashing in the light. As the ninja flung off his disguise, Usagi drew his swords and looked to the forest.

"How many?" he asked. Even though his hat acted as an umbrella and kept the rain from his face, he felt sure that a ninja could see other hiding ninja better than a samurai.

"Too many," Leonardo answered. "Something's wrong. They're not alone."

"What do you mean? Who is with them?"

"I can't tell. Whatever it is, it feels a little like that bakemono I fought."

As neko ninja came out of the forest, Leonardo spared a glimpse past them into the black branches. In the now constant glare of lightning, swirling shapes curled around the trees, reminding him of the smoke from the portal that had appeared Usagi first found him. He expected glowing eyes or glistening fangs, but even though he felt like they were watching him, none of them had eyes.

He felt Usagi step so that they were back to back, and he glanced over his shoulder briefly. He couldn't help a sharp breath. If the smoky shadows looked like ghosts in the trees, then they looked like snakes on the rice paddies, looping and twisting over each other.

"I don't think my swords can cut those things," Leonardo whispered.

"We'll worry about them later," Usagi said. "Concentrate on what we can fight."

The enemy gave him no time to reply. The first wave broke on their swords and fell at their feet as they were run through or cut to ribbons. Blood coated their blades, running freely down the hilt before the rain could wash it away. Advancing from the forest, the neko ninja had to be careful not to slip in the slick grass, but Usagi could count on his sandals to give him a grip and Leonardo used the mud to his advantage, pivoting as fast as lightning in his spin kicks and letting his momentum carry him to the ground for lethal sweeps that broke bones even as his centrifugal force brought him back up again.

After several minutes, he noticed a change in their tactics. They no longer tried to close in on him but rather struck from a distance, aiming throwing knives and stars that he was hard pressed to dodge or deflect. He killed the last ninja who'd come close enough but several more remained out of reach, and he had to slash faster and faster to block each shuriken. He fell to one knee to dodge a dozen of knives aimed at his face, and as he turned he noticed that somehow he and Usagi had become separated with ninja filling in between them. He tried to move towards Usagi but flinched when knives landed in front of his hand, narrowly avoiding losing that hand altogether.

They never gave him a chance to try for his own shuriken, and he had to take comfort in hearing their death cries as Usagi cut them down. Though it was inevitable, he still cried out in frustration when he heard Usagi's groan as he stumbled and fell, no longer able to keep fighting. Leonardo gasped in desperation and fear. They were as good as dead and yet he could not bring himself to stop, clinging to irrational hope. He didn't dare turn to look at the small mob around his friend, certain that he'd only see the final stroke.

Instead he heard the frantic wooden rattling of a horse and cart driven out of the forest and onto the road. At first he could only wonder how on earth they'd hidden all that between the trees, but the thought passed when they hefted Usagi's body up inside. Leonardo's eyes widened. Usagi still struggled even though he had little strength left. He was still alive.

The moment of relief faded as the cart fled down the road, taking Usagi with it and leaving him with far too many adversaries to finish off on his own. But Usagi was his friend. Even if he'd failed to protect him now there was still hope he could rescue him, but only if he survived the night. As they closed in, careful to stay just out of reach, he reached into his belt and found one of the flash bombs Donatello had made for them. They did little more than pop and light the area up as bright as day for an instant, but it could be the edge he needed. If the rain hadn't soaked it through.

Throwing it in the wet mud wouldn't ignite it. Yelling to make sure they all opened their eyes in anticipation, he tossed it into the air and struck it with the flat of his blade, closing his eyes at the last second. The flash still surprised him, but all around him neko ninja cried out in pain and stumbled backward. In the instant between their shock and their instinct to get out of his range, he had closed the distance between them.

There was no time for precision. If he didn't follow after Usagi soon, the rain would wash away the trail. Bodies with slashed throats fell beside bodies with hacked off arms and intestine spilling out of their bellies. By the time the remaining few could see him again, they were only a handful and well within his reach.

Within just a few seconds, he alone stood on the road. How much of that road was blood he couldn't tell. Already he couldn't see the cart, lost to both the night and the storm. His only hope of rescuing Usagi lay in walking throughout the night and hoping he didn't lose the trail. Sheathing his swords, he started walking. Perhaps he would find a traveling merchant or nobleman taking shelter in a roadside inn or shrine with a horse he could take.

At first he wasn't sure if the rustling sounds all around him were tree branches blown by the wind or the strange eyeless shapes, but after a few bolts of lightning let him see them clearly, he realized that they were indeed coming closer. He stopped and faced them, watching them swirl along the side of the road. They suddenly rushed within arm's reach, making him step back, but after a moment he saw that they weren't coming any closer.

He tilted his head. In fact, they were piling up on each other, coalescing into one great shape that arched itself and stretched up, forming an obvious head. Then its two legs split into four. Soon even in the moonlight he could see what they were creating. A smoky black horse.

He had heard the phrase 'being torn in two' before, but now he truly felt as if his heart had to rip into two pieces. Usagi's life might depend on taking the clear help offered to him, but this help was too convenient, too closely allied with the ninja clan to be nothing more than happy coincidence. He couldn't take that help. And yet here stood a horse without eyes ready to carry him.

He met its eyes, or at least he thought he did. Except for the blank spots where its eyes should have been, it looked like any horse. All he had to do was reach out, grasp its mane, and leap onto its back. He had no doubt that they would catch up to the cart easily. He put his hand out and touched its nose. It felt solid but colder than the rain.

"No," he whispered. It took a little longer for him to pull his hand away and turn his back on the thing that looked like a horse. "No. I will find him myself."

It whinnied. The sound nearly made him turn but he started walking again, refusing to look back.

Before long the storm weakened to a constant drizzle, completely destroying the cart tracks and leaving him confused as how to go on. Usagi was the one who knew where everything was in this world and he had no idea where Lord Nerai lived. And no doubt Nerai's wanted posters had been placed in every town, making asking for directions suicidal.

By the time he spotted a red torii marking a path into the forest, he wanted to collapse and sleep despite the rain. Instead he turned and followed the path, hoping he'd find something useful. When the path opened to a clearing in the woods, he laughed despite himself.

Tall wooden beams fenced in a sprawling temple complex. He had no way of telling what lay inside, but he figured there had to be something of use. Of course he wasn't quite sure how he would get inside. On the top of the fence, he spotted two monks carrying lanterns back and forth as they patrolled. Assuming they had sentries posted on every wall, he would have to time his climb for when one of the corners was completely dark.

After choosing a nearby tree, he scrambled up into the branches and began moving around the temple, using the higher vantage point to look into the courtyard and grounds. He smiled. In one of the buildings closest to the gate, he spotted several horses between the wooden slats of the wall. Although he couldn't simply leap over the fence in this spot, blocked by one of the patrolling monks, he could easily find it again when he slipped inside.

Most of the trees had been cleared away from the fence. Only a few tall pines leaned close enough to make a leap possible, and even as he edged out along one of the sturdiest branches, he wished the limb felt a little more solid. The ground lay at least two dozen feet below him and although Splinter had hammered out his fear of heights, his body tensed with every creak and groaning of the tree. He watched the monks making their rounds and waited as two of them left the nearest corner for a moment. Forcing himself to let go of the tree trunk, he took a deep breath and jumped out over the empty space.

When he landed on the walkway, he discovered that rain had left the smooth wood quite slick and he slipped sideways, tumbling over the side before he could catch himself. He managed to grab one of the support beams holding the walkway up and slid down until it met with another beam, jolting him off and into a deep puddle. Above him, footsteps and raised voices rushed close as the monks came to investigate the noise, but he moved quickly across the grounds and took cover beneath the raised temple floor. It was a tight fit, but the short poles that kept the temple off the ground and safe from flooding gave him enough space to hide in, if he didn't mind the mud. While the lantern light played on the spot he'd just left, he turned and pulled himself beneath the temple towards the gates.

Once he reached the front of the temple, he rested for a few minutes and surveyed the grounds. No one stood beside the gate, so he hoped that he would be able to raise the heavy bar holding it shut before anyone noticed that a horse was missing. He felt a little bad that he would leave a temple vulnerable to bandits, but perhaps he could make some noise as he escaped so they would notice the open gate.

As soon as he was sure he was alone, he crawled out of his hiding place and ran across the grounds, pressing his back against the stable wall as he sidled near the doors. He heard no one inside so he cracked the doors open and went in.

A lantern hung inside but he didn't dare light it for fear someone might see. Besides, in the dim moonlight he could make out at least one horse standing fast asleep. He lifted the latch on the nearest and stared at the mare which had woken up and now regarded him calmly.

"I hope you're fast," he whispered.

"I'm sure she is."

Leonardo whirled. A tall monk in a dark robe stood before him, his staff at the ready but not yet swinging at his head. From the monk's stance, however, he didn't think that was because the monk was afraid of him.

"And who are you?"

"Sanshobo, head priest of this temple," the monk said. "When my men told me they heard something at the wall, I thought it best to check for myself." 

He reached over and hung his lantern on the wall, lighting up the stable. As a handful of other horses woke up and softly complained about the light, Leonardo took a step towards the mare. Her stall was angled such that it remained mostly dark, drawing him instinctively towards it.

"Perhaps you will tell me who you are," Sanshobo said. "You do not seem like any ninja I've ever seen, and though you wear swords, you are no samurai."

"I'm not from around here," Leonardo said. "I'm not even from this world."

"You're a bit too muddy to be a spirit," Sanshobo said with a grim smile.

"My name is Leonardo," he said, refusing to be baited. "I am a ninja, although not one from any local clan. And I'm afraid that I'm going to have to borrow your horse."

"Well, I must say you're the most polite thief I've ever met," Sanshobo said, twirling his staff in one hand in preparation for a fight. "Come out of the shadows. I'd rather not kill you by accidentally smashing your head in."

"I don't suppose there's a way we could avoid fighting?" Leonardo asked. "I've got a friend I really need to rescue--"

"Unless you give up and let me call the local authorities," Sanshobo said, "I think this is going to be a very short fight."

"Fine," Leo grumbled. "Just don't hit the horse. I'll need it after I'm done with you."

Leaping forward, he startled Sanshobo and caught him around the waist, tackling him to the ground. The end of the staff knocked against the ground and jumped awkwardly into the air, giving Leonardo time to dodge clear before Sanshobo could swing it properly.

Even though Leonardo was surprised by how fast the priest got back on his feet, he didn't need to risk getting so close again. Sanshobo was obviously not used to his fighting style, a fact made obvious when Leonardo made a low sweep that sent him flat on his back again. As fast as Sanshobo was, he had only risen up on his elbows when he found the tip of Leonardo's sword at his throat.

"You're right," Leonardo said. "It was a short fight."

Sanshobo said nothing for a moment, peering at him now that he stood in the light. And then his eyes widened and he gasped. "You're the one on the wanted poster! The one with Usagi's!"

"You know Usagi?" Leonardo blinked but didn't remove his sword. After all, their names had been printed. Perhaps this priest had simply remembered.

"Yes, he's my friend. He's helped me on many occasions."

Friend? Leonardo tried to recall the stories Usagi had told him as they lingered in various inns, whiling away the hours. Had he ever mentioned a priest? He remembered a story about a strange warrior who never seemed to die and demons needing exorcism. The only memory about a priest was vague at best.

"He told me about a priest who helped him with a sword," he said softly. "A sword called--"

"Grasscutter," Sanshobo nodded. "When he defeated the undying warrior Jei."

With a self-conscious sigh, Leonardo withdrew his sword and set it back in its sheathe. "My apologies. I should have remembered your name."

"And come in through the front gate perhaps?" Sanshobo took his offered hand and stood up. "I would have gladly offered any help to a friend of Usagi's."

"I'm afraid I don't know my way around this world," Leonardo said. "I don't even know where Lord Nerai lives, and now that I've lost him--"

"Wait, the friend you have to help, you meant Usagi?" Sanshobo considered briefly, then nodded once. "You'd better come inside. We need to talk."

"There isn't time to talk," Leonardo argued. "Usagi was captured not half an hour ago and--"

"And they will not kill him immediately," Sanshobo said. "Not if they made the effort to take him alive. Rushing blindly into combat against an unknown enemy will only get you killed."

It was an argument Leonardo had made to his brothers many times over, but having it repeated now when his friend was in the hands of the enemy only made it that much more galling. 

"Can we keep the conversation short?"

"Heh, impatient youth." Sanshobo shook his head. "Look at yourself. You need to rest and have those wounds seen to. Fortunately I can pass for a healer."

Leonardo looked down at himself but didn't see anything too bad. He'd certainly been in a hard fight and had the usual cuts and slices across his arms and body, and the cold rain had kept him shivering most of the night, but it was nothing he couldn't soldier on with. 

"It's not that bad. Sure, I pulled the gash on my arm a little, but it's hardly bleeding."

Sanshobo gave him a look of pity mixed with admiration. 

"Young warriors. Nothing ever changes." He turned and walked a few steps before looking over his shoulder. "Come on, then. You should at least clean all that mud off. Once you're ready, I can certainly give you a horse."

With the distinct feeling that he was talking to his father, Leonardo sighed and followed Sanshobo out of the stable, ignoring the looks of the other monks who'd gathered outside. While there were no hot springs nearby, they did have a well that allowed him to rinse off, which he figured was probably better than falling asleep in a hot spring and drowning.

After that, he joined Sanshobo in a small room that reminded him a little of Splinter's bedroom. Now that he was dry and out of the wind, the lantern's glow turned the room a soft gold. The scent of the tea in the middle of the room only made it more comfortable. He barely paid attention as Sanshobo properly stitched the gash on his arm and dressed the smaller cuts, using the time instead to explain what had happened ever since Usagi first appeared in the alley.

"So I killed the rest of them, but they still got away with Usagi," he said. "And then I found your temple and...you really need to put handrails on your walkways."

"I'll remember that," Sanshobo smiled. "In the event I meet another honorable ninja."

"I keep hearing that," Leonardo said. "We're not that rare."

"Oh? Are there many in your world?"

"Well..." He frowned. Of course there was his family, but...he sighed. "Okay, maybe we are rare."

Sanshobo laughed and paused in his work so he wouldn't stab Leonardo. "You may be a ninja, but even among samurai your honor would be rare. Usagi has precious few friends."

"And I let him down."

"We mere mortals do have our limits," Sanshobo said. "You defeated more ninja than I could even imagine. And I am sure you will find Lord Nerai and rescue Usagi. I also have no doubt that he is the bait in an intricate trap."

"Then you think those shadow creatures were deliberately sent?"

"They were able to take corporeal form but did not help you until Usagi was taken. Their presence must have been meant to force you to take their aid, and thus owe whoever controls them a favor."

"Then I'm the one they're really after. And Usagi just an innocent victim. It's my fault."

"I hardly think you're the one who arranged for him to be attacked and captured," Sanshobo said. "Remember, it's arrogant to take responsibility for everything that happens in the world. There is enough karma already burdening your soul. No need to add any more."

Leonardo wasn't sure that he believed in karma, but he saw no reason to mention that. He simply took the offered cup of tea and nodded once.

"I know I'm a stranger here," Leonardo said, "but you're not like the other monks."

"I wasn't always a priest," Sanshobo said, taking a sip of tea. "I used to be a samurai, but life conspired to put me upon a new path. Such was my karma."

For a moment both held silent, each contemplating what was to be done next. Leonardo knew that the priest had offered both a horse and directions to Nerai's province and estate, but he couldn't help feeling guilt that he was resting in a warm temple while Usagi lay in the enemy's grasp.

"Do you really think Usagi will be all right?" he asked.

"I have seen enough traps in my time to recognize one. His true danger will begin when you find him again."

Leonardo wondered if it wasn't perverse of him to take that as a consolation.

Despite Sanshobo's protests, Leonardo insisted on leaving immediately, arguing that he would ride better at night than during the day. With an annoyed sigh and another grumble about impetuous youth, the priest took him back to the stables.

"You'll find his estate along this road. It lies within the city, but his compound is situated on top of the river. His men wear a two mon crest. Since our temple has few dealings with him, I'm afraid I don't know anything about his defenses that's any different from any other lord."

"That's all right," Leonardo said, helping him saddle the horse and place the reins. "A ninja would see differently than a samurai. What should I do about the horse?"

"I doubt they'll let you ride through the gates. Just let her go before you reach the city. She knows the way home."

Leonardo nodded once and stepped up onto the horse's back, giving her a reassuring pat. "Thank you, Sanshobo. I don't know what I would've done if I hadn't met you tonight."

"Arrived exhausted at Nerai's home demanding Usagi back," Sanshobo said. "Your appearance alone might've scared them into doing it."

Leo smiled and looked to where a handful of monks drew open the gates. "I owe you a lot for this."

"Save Usagi and you owe me nothing. Now go, and try not to get lost."

Taking the reins, Leonardo urged the mare out of the temple, breaking into a gallop once they were past the temple steps. To his relief, she didn't slip in the mud and easily carried him along the road, ignoring the wind and drizzling rain. No one walked the road at this hour, giving him a straight run for miles. Although he had to give the horse frequent rests, knowing that he was moving faster than if he was running on foot tempered his impatience.

He met no opposition and didn't even see any of the eyeless shadows along the way, so when he saw the dim lights of the city he dismounted and sent the horse back along the road. He watched her disappear into the darkness before turning back to the city. The gate was closed with five guards posted, but the guards all huddled under the roof. The forest had been cleared well away from the walls so he couldn't simply climb a tree this time. With a sigh, he glanced at the river beside him. Tall cattails and grasses lined the banks all the way to the city, just a few feet shy of the gate.

Well, he figured, he was already soaked anyway.

Hoping that since he'd seen little in the way of wild animals other than tokage lizards there wouldn't be any snakes or alligators, he slipped through the grass and into the cold water, moving with the current. He came so close to the guards that he was hard pressed to stay in the thin shadows of the cattails, able to see the numbers on the dice the guards used to gamble and read the kanji on their sake bottles.

While he wondered how best to take them by surprise and kill them before they could sound an alarm, one of the guards stood up after a losing streak and walked towards the river, obviously undoing his pants. Leonardo smirked. Problem solved.

He waited until the guard was standing at the river's edge before unsheathing his sword and slashing upwards, cutting the guard's throat in one silent motion. With a startled groan, the man tried to yell and gurgled blood as he fell forward, seemingly too drunk to stand.

At hearing the splash, the others laughed and thought the same. One of them yelled to get out of the river before he drowned. When he heard no answer, he got up and walked closer, complaining about the rain and telling the dead man that he'd owe him for fishing him out of the river. Yawning, he bent over and pushed the grass away, and had just enough time to see the flash of steel before it took his head off.

When the second body hit the water, the other three guards stood and looked, no longer sure that their friends were simply drunk.

Two of them drew their weapons and slowly crept close, giving Leonardo enough time to draw three shuriken. They were practically in point-blank range. He stood and sent two throwing stars into their throats, then flung the last one at the only remaining guard. It caught him in the back and he yelled in pain as he fell. Leonardo came out of the water, stepping over the bodies as he stood below the gate. From this angle he saw the way the poles were arranged to hold the wooden roof for the guards, providing him an easy way to the top of the wall. He glanced at the last guard, trembling in pain and cold as he continued to cry out. Already he heard the sound of the gate being unbolted from the other side.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he used the lowest support pole to jump up and grab the edge of the small roof, pulling himself up and jumping to the top of the wall. A walkway meant for patrolling guards lined the inside of the wall, but the rain had discouraged them from doing their jobs and now they were several yards away, running towards him and shouting.

From the walkway, he stepped into the air and landed on a shop built right up against the wall, and from there raced over the rooftops. Despite the occasional tile he knocked loose, he lost them easily in the narrow streets. Once he was sure that he'd left his pursuers somewhere on the other side of the city yelling commands in confusion, he stood on the highest roof he could find nearby and looked out across the city.

The mass of homes and shops looked like an uneven jumble of dark blocks and dim lanterns held tight by the wall that cut the homes off from the surrounding fields. The wet edges of each home and shop glistened in the moonlight like silver silhouettes. It startled him to see how vast the city was, but because of the crowded streets he spotted the empty space that ringed a cluster of buildings somewhat taller than the rest. As he approached, Nerai's courtyard became more obvious by the high stone walls and beautiful gardens.

Dozens of men already stood at the compound's gates, warned by the city's guards. He didn't need to see any crest on their clothes to tell him who served Nerai. All of them were armed with spears and patrolled the gardens with their lanterns held high. In such open ground, their spears gave them the advantage and he had no desire to face them under those circumstances. He would have to sneak inside the main building another way.

After circling the compound, he spotted his way in. In the corner farthest from the gate and the flowers, Nerai had only a bedraggled plum tree sitting beside a decrepit well. The corner was dreary, uncared for, and the few guards who passed by didn't linger. The only drawback was that once he was in, there was a wide space between the tree and the nearest door. He supposed he could make a run for it, but with so many guards, he hated to chance it.

Wishing he'd brought more than just two flash bombs with him on his training run, he reached into his belt and drew out his last one. He hated to use it up, but he needed to create a disturbance he could depend on to lure the guards away. Aiming carefully, he threw the capsule as hard as he could against the far wall, taking the chance that it would ignite when it hit the hard surface. It missed the wall but struck the outdoor walkway, exploding in a brilliant burst of light.

As soon as he'd thrown it, he jumped down into the street and scrambled over the wall, using the intricately carved windows in the wall as handholds. Once inside, he sprinted across the garden and behind the main building, climbing into the open window once he saw the room was empty and lowering the shutter after himself. He heard soft footsteps in the hallway, so he slid the paper door open a crack and peered out.

His jaw dropped. He'd never seen a real courtesan before. The woodcuts in Splinter's scrolls did them no justice. In astonishment, he watched the young woman sway gently in tall shoes, her long green robes covered in colorful cherry blossoms in full bloom. They made her look taller and wider than she really was, but that only accentuated the delicate pattern and edges of her clothes. Her hair was obviously a wig but the knowledge did nothing to detract from its stylized perfection, with jeweled pins that tinkled like soft bells. Her sleeves extended several inches past her hands, but she still managed to hold a broad fan that covered most of her face. She walked by so close that he could have reached out and touched her robes.

Shaking his head as if to clear it, he waited to see if anyone else was coming and then stepped out, following her down the empty corridor into the main room. Pausing at the end of the hall, he peered around the corner and saw her disappear into another room. The thin paper door did nothing to muffle the sound of laughter, both male and female. Perhaps Nerai was inside.

Before he could risk taking a look, the door slid open again and another courtesan came out, her robes askew as she wobbled on her shoes towards him. He cursed under his breath and looked around wildly, but the only escape was out a window. Hoping no one was outside, he rushed out and caught the wooden shutter before it could slam closed.

Light streamed in from somewhere to his left and he looked up. Luck was with him. Although the windows were closed and locked, they were loose enough that he could peer through the crack and look inside. Glancing around to make sure he was still alone, he pulled it open as far as he dared and finally saw both Lord Nerai and Usagi. Nerai seemed in the midst of celebrating Usagi's capture, keeping him bound in a place of honor at the side of the room with two guards standing over him. All around them, courtesans plied what Leonardo assumed were trusted courtiers and retainers with drink, and as the sake flowed through the room, so did pieces of clothing.

Still, he could tell which girls were more expensive than others. Lord Nerai's court seemed fine to most of the women in cheaper kimonos, but the more refined women in more elaborate costume occasionally betrayed discomfort as girls squealed too loudly. He wondered if they were there simply because Nerai wanted a party and ordered them to attend along with the more common prostitutes.

He looked back at his friend. Usagi had clearly been beaten but seemed both aware and annoyed at his surroundings. There was no way he could work free of the rope around him, especially not with so many people around him.

Leonardo sighed. And there was no way he could get in and strike before either of the guards might turn and kill Usagi. Or before the other men in the room could sound the alarm. He bit back a curse. It'd be easy if he could just get inside for a moment, close enough to Usagi to cut him free with one sweep of his blade. He looked up, hoping to see a ceiling with rafters, but Nerai was too cagey to allow such an easy route in.

Voices sounded close by and lantern light shone near the far side of the building. Guards would soon come around the corner. For a moment he considered looking to see if there was a crawlspace beneath the estate,but he discarded that idea. No doubt they would eventually look for him there. If he wanted to save Usagi, he had to do it quickly, within the next few minutes.

He went back inside through the same window he'd come out from, already sick of climbing through the damn things, and headed down the hall. The edge of the half-drunk courtesan's kimono disappeared into the next large room and he followed her to the door, sliding it open enough to see inside. She had her back to him as she headed towards a large mirror against the wall. Knowing he probably wouldn't reach her before she saw his reflection, he stepped inside and closed the door.

Immediately she turned, her eyes wide as she stared at him. Her makeup was streaked across her fox face and in the darkness made her look like a bloody ghost. She opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out, and she backed away slowly until she toppled over. Her wig fell off and clattered noisily across the floor. When she looked up again, she found him kneeling in front of her.

"If you don't want me to kill you," he said, "leave your outer garments and things here and run. Not a sound."

Shakily nodding once, she kicked out of her shoes and worked free of her clothes, backing away on the floor with several layers of robes still on. When he motioned towards the door, she turned on her hands and crawled until she could get to her feet, disappearing into the night.

Now came the hard part. He gathered everything up and set it by the mirror, examining what he had. One outer robe, the wig, a large fan and shoes. When he held up the robe, two things clattered out of the sleeve. To his surprise, he discovered that she'd left behind a short kaiken blade. Well for her that she hadn't tried to use it. He also found a lacquered case with heavy white makeup inside. Heaving a sigh, he glanced over his shoulder at the door.

"You better appreciate this, Usagi," he whispered.


	3. Chapter 3

Five minutes later, he walked holding the fan in front of his face. What little skin showed was white, and the rest of him was hidden under the robe and behind the large fan. He'd had to remove his mask, tucking it into a sleeve, and his swords hung awkwardly at his side which he hid with the other sleeve. Worst of all was maintaining his balance on the high shoes. They weren't so high that he couldn't walk without falling and he knew they weren't the highest platforms that courtesans wore, but now he understood why the women walked so carefully and deliberately.

He didn't know why they kept so many pins in their hair, though. If he had to listen to them rattle overhead much longer, he thought he'd go insane.

His hand began to tremble as he reached the door. He'd never attempted a disguise this elaborate and gender-specific before. Telling himself that he only needed to cross the room, he took a deep breath and went inside.

"It's about time you came back," one of the men half-snarled. "I finished my sake a long time ago."

Rather than go to his side where the illusion would fade under close scrutiny, Leonardo made a show of ignoring him, tilting his head away as if admiring the carved dragons along the support columns. Accentuating his swaying walk, he figured he was doing it right when all the other men in the room laughed at the jilted courtier and taunted him that he couldn't handle a woman. Leonardo's path across the room took him directly in front of Lord Nerai, but he didn't dare look directly at him. So far he'd only seen him from the back and now he had to look out of the corner of his eye. The man was more human than everyone else he'd seen in this world but still didn't look quite like someone from Earth. He was dressed like he imagined a lord would, but it was hard to see with two semi-naked girls draped over him.

Looking only at the two guards standing over Usagi, Leonardo came within arm's reach when Nerai snapped at him.

"I told you stupid girls not to go near them! Stupid damn whores--" Throwing the other girls off, Nerai got to his feet and came towards him, one arm out as if to hit him.

No more time. Raising his left arm, Leonardo pulled his hand free of the sleeve and with it the kaiken blade which cut the throats of both guards. All the women screamed as the men fell to their knees with blood welling over their fingers. The bodies fell in Nerai's way as Leonardo grabbed the ropes around Usagi and dragged him back into the corner. He felt bad about dumping his friend face first on the floor, but the move bought them precious few seconds as he cut through the ropes. When Usagi got to his feet, Leonardo pulled his swords from beneath the robes and pressed them into Usagi's hands.

A sparkling glint warned Leonardo in time. He turned as fast as he could, leaning back with the kaiken raised, blocking Nerai's short sword. As Nerai snarled at him, however, Leonardo inwardly winced. He was completely off balance and holding the knife at the wrong angle. He might be able to deflect another strike, but not more, and the courtiers were already close.

He stumbled as Usagi pushed him to one side, blocking Nerai's next stroke inches from his face. Another two swipes sent Nerai back and Usagi grabbed Leonardo's hand, pulling him out of the room and running down the hall. Behind them, the heavy footsteps of their pursuer's struck the floor.

Wishing Usagi would give him a second to get out of the damn shoes, Leonardo yelped as he was roughly pulled into a small room that he hadn't noticed before. Usagi shut the door and stood guard, but Leonardo couldn't keep his balance and toppled against the wall, muffling his wince with his sleeve.

After a moment, the footsteps rushed by them and Usagi sighed, turning to face Leonardo. The room had a window but it was very small and near the ceiling, almost hidden, so they couldn't see each other well at all.

"Forgive me for not knowing your name," Usagi whispered with a small bow. "But I owe my life to you. Rest assured, madam, I shall see you safely away."

Leonardo couldn't help it. He started laughing, and no matter how hard he tried to muffle it under his sleeves, it became quite clear to Usagi. The samurai winced and held his hands up to comfort the emotional courtesan.

"Please, hysterics will only make it harder to escape," Usagi started.

Waving him down, Leonardo quelled his laughter. "And you said you couldn't imagine me as a courtesan," he said, still smiling. 

"Leonardo?" Usagi bent and stared at him, eyes wide. "Is that...you?"

Pushing off the wig and shoes while wiping the make-up off on his sleeves, Leonardo nodded once, still chuckling. "Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh."

"But how did you find me? You don't know your way around my world."

"I met your friend Sanshobo at the temple, and he lent me a horse." Leonardo sighed and looked up at him. "For awhile, I was afraid they'd kill you."

"I have no doubt they intended to do so," Usagi said, helping him stand. "I do not know why they kept me alive. It...it's very good to see you."

For a moment neither said anything.

"You make a very convincing courtesan," Usagi smirked.

"Don't you ever tell Raphael--no, don't ever tell anyone I did that."

"But surely I must applaud your ingenuity to all who might listen--"

"Let's just get out of here." Leonardo grumbled, looking around the small room. "Where are we anyway?"

"One of many secret rooms I am sure line these corridors," Usagi said. "When you live in a palace, you learn to recognize them quickly. Do you have any weaponry left?"

"Just the kaiken the girl had," Leonardo said. "I didn't think I could fight dressed like that, so I gave you my swords."

"I will need to retrieve my own swords before we leave," Usagi said.

"We can't waste time wandering around with everyone looking for us."

"We won't have to. Nerai ordered his men to take them upstairs to their observatory. We need to find the stairs and make our way up."

Leonardo sighed but didn't try to argue. He simply couldn't understand a samurai's obsessive nature about his swords. There was some sentimental value of course, but ninja were simply more practical than to assume a piece of metal held their souls.

"Use mine for now," he said. "We'd better get going."

"Agreed."

Once Usagi had cleared the corridor, he led the way back to the room they'd left and farther, taking him around another corner. It was easy to tell where the guards were since they all ran in groups with someone holding a lantern in front, especially since Usagi and Leonardo made a point of blowing out any candles they ran across. When the darkness prevented Usagi from moving, Leonardo took the lead and kept them clear of guards.

"Here we are," Usagi whispered when they came to the stairs. Lights from the floors above shone softly on the steps, giving them just enough illumination to see. The flickering candles above made the light play on the walls like a broken electric light. "Come on."

Leonardo didn't know why, but a sick feeling welled up in his stomach. This was too easy. Nerai had told Usagi exactly where to find his swords. Nerai had kept him alive long enough for Usagi to lead Leonardo somewhere. The ninja clans had not killed Usagi in the first place.

Damn Usagi's need for his damn swords! Leonardo swallowed his protests and followed him up one flight, then another. They heard women scream as they went, alerting the guards to their presence. On the third flight, he grabbed Usagi's arm and pulled him to a stop.

"Leonardo, what are you--?"

"Quiet," Leonardo hissed. "Look!"

Usagi turned and looked up the staircase. And took a step back.

As densely packed as a forest, shapeless shadows crept over the floor and along the walls, their long arms sinking into the paper and out again without tearing. They didn't come closer but waited patiently as if that floor belonged to them.

"Are they dangerous?" Usagi whispered.

"I don't..." Leonardo watched them creep silently along the floor, watched them slip into the ceiling without making the wood creak. In them, he saw the smooth motion and heard the breathless silence that unnerved anyone who watched him move. "No. They would have attacked by now. They--they're waiting for me."

"For you?" Usagi faced him with wide eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Sanshobo thought this whole thing might be an elaborate trap for me, but he was wrong." Leonardo let go of Usagi's arm. "You can't come with me."

"What? Are you insane?"

"No, and I can't explain, but you can't--Usagi, promise me you'll wait here. If the guards come, you can hide on the roof outside the window, but I don't think they will. Please wait for me. I'll bring your swords back."

"Leonardo--" Usagi hesitated, torn between fear and trust. Finally he nodded once. "Very well. I will wait."

"Thank you."

Without another word, Leonardo started up the next flight of stairs. The shadows swarmed around him but shied away from his touch, parting before him as he passed the next flight. At such close range, he could make out vague humanoid shapes for each of them, but they wavered like smoke and dripped down the walls like ink.

As cold as the night had been, the stairs felt like ice and the breeze like wind from a cave. The observatory lay at the very top of the steps, a single room with three of its walls pulled back to give anyone inside a perfect view of the crescent moon. Heavy clouds blocked most of the sky and rain splashed across the floor, but the person seated in the center with Usagi's swords in front of him didn't seem to notice the weather.

His features were obscured by shadows cast by nothing. His clothes wavered and seemed always on the verge of fading at the edges. Unlike the creatures on the stairs, he had eyes that locked onto Leonardo and never blinked.

"I've been waiting so long to meet you," he said, his voice as cold as rain and as black as ink. "Finally you are here."

Leonardo walked closer and knelt in front of him, inclining his head. "You saw to that."

"Indeed. You know who I am?"

"I think so," Leonardo answered. "Not your name but I know you. You are the first of us."

A laugh. "I gave up my name a long time ago. Now I am a forgotten god, remembered only by those who do not exist."

"My kind," Leonardo said. "Spies and assassins."

"In some ways," the god said, "you exist even less than they do. Unknown by your entire world, you cannot even enjoy the luxury of walking in the street unnoticed. You are less than a shadow, less than a whisper. And from that nonexistence, you have become stronger than the best of our kind."

"I am just a student," Leonardo protested, biting his words off when the god laughed again.

"You have trained under two masters already. Your skills need no more honing. At your age, your technique is immaculate."

Leonardo swallowed once. The presence of the god felt strong enough to sweep him off the floor and destroy the entire estate, so strong that he didn't know if he could keep his mind as he faced it.

"You didn't call me here to praise me."

"Not entirely. I had hoped you would owe me a favor when you arrived. I gave you several opportunities to take my help."

"Help from a plot you orchestrated."

"Of course. We are far more practical than samurai." The god ran the vague blur that was his hand over Usagi's swords. "I would have called that debt by securing a promise from you, one deed to be done that would sully your honor and leave you no choice but to join my side."

The threat to his honor turned his blood cold. "As part of your collection?"

"No. The creatures you saw are the souls of disgraced ninja. They do their penance with me before returning to the wheel."

The god smiled, or at least Leonardo thought he did. He kept his eyes lowered not out of submission but because he simply couldn't stand to meet the god's stare.

"No, you would be much more than that. My right hand, a commander of legions of souls. There is much work to be done in this world and the next, our work."

"No." Leonardo shook his head once. "No, I'm no spirit."

"Your soul is already stained with so much blood. How do you know you won't have a choice when you die but to come to me?"

"If that were true, you wouldn't have tried this. I am no disgraced ninja. I never will be."

"Ah, that is where you are mistaken." The god stood, the rustling of his clothes like leaves in the night air. "I planned to extort a favor from you, but instead I have a new means of blasting your soul. Your friend sits vulnerable in the stairwell. Only my creatures keep Nerai's men from coming up and overwhelming him."

"You won't hurt him," Leonardo said, holding his anger in check. "You would have done it already."

"You are a fine ninja, but you still need training in subterfuge and tactics." The god walked to the very edge of the floor, heedless of the long drop beneath him. "Here is the first of many lessons I will give you, a choice. Disobey me and the samurai dies. Do as I command and he lives."

"You're no god," Leonardo hissed. "You're a demon."

"Semantics." He waved his hand idly. "Besides, my task is not so terrible for one with as much death on his conscience as you. Merely slaughter everyone inside this estate's walls to the last man. Promise me this and Usagi will walk free. If not..." He turned and faced Leonardo again. "Then he will not make it five feet to the door."

Leonardo said nothing for several minutes, and the god did not rush him. Leonardo did not wrestle with philosophies or what his father might think. He didn't weigh good against evil or try to think of a bargain. He spent those minutes trying to think of what he would say to Usagi, but nothing came to mind.

"Let me speak to him before I start," he whispered. "Let me take his swords to him."

"Of course," the god said, sitting back down in front of him. "You wouldn't want to use his soul for this kind of work."

"Will you be watching?"

"I trust your honor," the god said. "You say you will do it, then you will do it. Do you have any other requests?"

"You will let Usagi leave without being attacked," Leonardo said. "And...if it is in your power, you will bring the storm back. I want rain and lightning."

"I can and will do both," the god said and bowed his head. "I will see you again in the garden when you are finished."

Leonardo nodded tensely as if a contract had been signed. When he looked up again, the god was gone. Letting out a shuddering breath, he put his hands on the floor and leaned forward, trying not to throw up. Cold, exhausted, sick now, he wanted to curl up in his room and pretend nothing was happening. There were women inside this estate. There had to be children, Nerai's children but youngsters nonetheless. It couldn't all be samurai and guards.

Swallowing once, he picked up Usagi's swords and walked down the stairs which were now empty of dead souls. Usagi still waited for him on the third landing. At the sound of his steps, Usagi looked up with a relieved smile.

"Thank heaven, I was worried you wouldn't--" Usagi broke off as he got a look at him. "What happened? You look strange."

Meeting a god would do that to anyone, Leonardo thought. He simply shook his head and gave Usagi his swords.

"I can't explain right now," he said. "You have to leave."

"What?"

"You'll be able to get out safely, I made sure of that. Just walk out of the gate and keep going. Don't turn around."

"Leonardo, what are you saying? I can't leave you here."

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. But I need you to go. If I thought anything might happen to you, I--" He glanced away. "Please go."

"Why? What happened up there?"

"I'll explain later, but there's no time right now." He felt a soft hand on his face and looked up, meeting Usagi's eyes. "This is no place for a samurai."

Something in his voice made Usagi's hand fall away. The samurai blinked once and shook his head. "I don't understand, but I'll trust you. You are not staying here to die? Promise me you won't."

"I promise," Leonardo said. "I won't die tonight."

Unsatisfied with that but unable to demand more, Usagi looked at him one more time before retreating back down the stairs and out of sight.

Leonardo watched him leave, then sat down on the steps and waited. Outside the storm gathered intensity, striking the walls and ceiling with raindrops that sounded like hammers. The windows rattled and started to pull at their moorings as the wind raked at them. The lanterns went out at once. Although clouds blotted out the moon and made the night black, lightning now lit up the sky and earth so that he saw everything in the harsh glare between flashes.

At last he could stall no longer. Standing and drawing his swords, he looked up to the stairs above. He heard the voices of the women crying out in fear as the house began unraveling around them.

No one heard him through the wind and rain. Flinging back one door after another, he discovered hapless servants, concubines huddled within their apartments, and a woman he thought might be Nerai's wife since she held one infant in her arms with another in an attendant's arms. He also found several armed soldiers standing guard over them, but they fought like children against a demon out of the night. When a pale silhouette of a woman occasionally slipped by him and escaped into the hall, he paid no mind. He would follow in a moment.

On a lacquered table top now covered with blood stood a solitary oil lamp. He took a match from his belt and struck it, careful not to let the flame blow out as he lit the lamp and guarded it from the wind. In the relative stillness of the hallway, he held the lamp up and watched the flames leap to the wall, devouring wood and paper in an instant. By the time he made it to the stairs again, the whole floor was busy consuming itself.

This time he made no attempt to hide from the armed men searching for him. One at a time, in pairs and in waves, they fell at his feet. He didn't know why it was so easy now. It couldn't just be because of the storm and the darkness. It couldn't just be their growing panic or the shrieking women distracting them. He doubted the god would help him after saying he wouldn't. Perhaps this was simply how it felt to fight with nothing to lose.

The lanterns were all dark and no matter how often lightning struck the trees, they only smoldered in the driving rain. Even the gates lay broken and the walls half-burned. He could hardly hear the sounds of men dying around him for the thunder and wind. To his surprise, when the last man stumbled in the mud and lay still, the storm continued to rage but turned silent. Hard rain broke branches and destroyed the gardens, but Leonardo heard and felt none of it. Panting for breath, he sat down in the bloody lake that was once the garden, his swords falling out of his hands.

Something loud cracked behind him and he looked over his shoulder. The wooden beams supporting the observatory crumpled in on themselves and the entire building fell inwards. He expected flames to shoot up or spread across what was left of the ceiling. Instead the fire turned to smoke and Nerai's estate leaned sideways, blackened and gutted.

The wind dwindled and died. The lightning stilled. Although the rain didn't stop, it softened to a steady shower as the clouds broke up and let moonlight through. The death toll, only hinted at in the shadows, now revealed its true horror in the light. Bodies littered the ground. Even Lord Nerai lay on the steps leading to his home, his head nearly severed and hanging at an angle. Leonardo wondered what Nerai's connection with the god had been. Probably just a useful pawn.

Footsteps splashed through the gore. Leonardo didn't bother to look. He knew who it was. For a long moment, neither spoke.

"Why?" Usagi whispered.

"To save you," Leonardo answered.

"But...there was no need. I escaped easily." Usagi looked over the mess of bodies and shuddered. "This was no fight. This was slaughter. Did no one--?"

"'To the last man'," Leonardo said softly, repeating what the god had demanded.

"And the women?" Usagi demanded, his voice turning harsh. "The children? The servants? Did you slaughter anyone you met?"

Leonardo didn't answer. Usagi put his hand on his sword, hesitated, then let it fall away again.

"That you helped me," Usagi whispered, "I thank you. But I was wrong. A samurai can never be friend to a ninja."

Only the sound of rain accompanied Usagi out of the garden again. Leonardo couldn't bring himself to watch him go. Right now, he couldn't even bring himself to move. Besides, he was sure he had one more person to speak to before the night would be finished.

This time no footsteps or splashing warned him as the blurred edge of a darkly patterned kimono appeared before him. Leonardo didn't bother with a greeting as the god sat down in the water without muddying his clothes. With a wave of his hand, a small table appeared with a single cup of tea that caught no raindrops. Leonardo wondered if it was even real.

"Everyone in this estate is dead," the god said. "Except you."

Leonardo stayed quiet. He wondered how well the god could see in darkness and tried to keep his hands from shaking. This was the most dangerous moment, he knew. An angry god could destroy him, his family and his friends on a whim, rules be damned. He had to stay calm, keep his mind clear. Now he was glad for all the hours Splinter made him meditate. The technique came to him like second nature. With his mind calmed somewhat, he raised his head.

The god stared at him but no longer was his stare unbearable. In fact, the god looked confused.

"You have done what I asked," he said softly. "And yet your honor is unstained. How is that possible?"

"Maybe you confused me with a samurai," Leonardo said, his voice numb. "I am a ninja. Our honor is different."

"I am your god," he said. "I know your nature."

"You may be a god," Leonardo said. "But you are not my god."

The god finished his tea and both the cup and table disappeared. "Perhaps not yet. But in time. I have nothing if not time."

Refusing to rise to that taunt, Leonardo simply watched him slowly fade from sight. The clouds completely vanished, leaving the ruined estate bathed in silver. The jutting beams and singed trees stood out like calligraphy, bold but as jagged as the end of a brush stroke. Solitude felt like a luxury but he knew it wouldn't last. Already the city guard and townsfolk milled around the gate, curious to look in on the devastation.

Gathering his swords, he stood and headed back to the shell of Nerai's estate, stepping over bodies as he went. After picking up a chunk of burnt wood, he began tracing out the characters that would create his gate home. Drawing the intricate symbols strained his memory but he sketched the last one just before the bravest man started edging towards him. The gate shimmered to life and he stepped through, finding himself back in the alley he'd originally left. It was even still raining.

~

Sunrise found Usagi sitting on a bench outside a roadside inn, nursing a bottle of sake and watching the early travelers trudging through the mud. He hadn't slept yet. His memory kept repeating the last night so that every time he closed his eyes, he saw his friend sitting amongst the dead.

It made no sense. He never would have believed Leonardo could kill so coldly, so brutally, especially when he didn't need to. They could have escaped without incident. Most of all, he didn't know why he had killed the women and children Usagi knew had to have been in the estate. He'd seen the wife and servants, seen the concubines. Had Leonardo killed the prostitutes, too?

Usagi was no stranger to death but such wanton slaughter appalled him. Was Leonardo's honor merely a treacherous facade to be dropped when inconvenient? Or had Usagi assumed too much about the ninja?

He took another drink. If Leonardo had imitated a samurai's honor without truly having any, then he was the best actor Usagi had ever known.

He shivered as the wind coursed around the inn and once again wished that there was room inside to sit down. So many people had come in during the night to escape the storm that the inn had neither rooms nor chairs. Usagi knew he'd been lucky to get even a bottle of sake to warm him before he started roaming again. He looked at the road and then back at the ground. He didn't want to start walking again. He wanted to crawl inside the sake bottle and stay there.

Beside him, the door opened and a noblewoman in full veil walked out, one hand on her attendant's shoulder to steady her as she walked. Several more attendants followed her out, more than Usagi would have considered normal, and behind those another older servant followed carrying an infant. He watched them huddle together, looking over their shoulders as they started walking. And then the noblewoman's hat tipped forward, raising the veil and revealing a glimpse of a two mon crest.

Usagi breathed in sharply. One of the women heard him and looked over her shoulder, but when he didn't move towards them she turned back and hurriedly covered her mistress's crest. In silence they walked on the grass just off the road, keeping their heads down to avoid anyone's notice.

Looters of the dead? He shook his head at that. Impossible. The bodies weren't even cold yet, and besides, looters would have had no opportunity. He stared at their clothing again. Torn along the edges, singed in some places, completely muddy hems and mismatched, as if they'd grabbed whatever they could. Upon second look, they were not merely a noblewoman and her attendants. They were survivors.

"He didn't kill them all," Usagi whispered. "But then why...?"

He could think of no answer. The only one who could answer was Leonardo, and he--

Usagi frowned. He didn't know where Leonardo was. Perhaps still at the estate? No, surely he would have left almost immediately. Maybe he'd returned to his own world. Leonardo hadn't known the symbols to create a gate before, but he'd seen them twice now.

Hoping he was right and that Leonardo was not hiding in the city somewhere, Usagi left the sake bottle and cup on the bench and walked around the side of the inn. The hour was still early so he didn't think anyone would notice him as he wrote the gate symbols on the wall. Instead of the character to represent Leonardo, however, he wrote the character representing Leonardo's home. He wanted to speak with Splinter first.

To Usagi's surprise, he stepped into Splinter's room and spotted the old master sitting on a mat in the corner. Splinter looked up and smiled in recognition.

"Usagi, it is good to see you again." He took the candle in front of him and lit several more along the wall, providing them with more light.

"And you as well, Master Splinter," Usagi said with a bow. "Please forgive my abruptness, but I must ask if Leonardo is home."

"Yes, he came home this morning." Splinter's face clouded and he sighed. "He was missing for several days, though, and refuses to tell me where he was."

"Is he all right?" Usagi asked as he sat down.

"Physically. But something hangs over him. Something awful happened, I can feel it." Splinter looked up with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "Perhaps you could speak with him? Your friendship may bridge a gap that a parent cannot."

Usagi grimaced and stared at the floor. "I feel I must tell you I think this is my fault. You see, he has been with me for the past few days. I asked for his help and we had to leave before he could tell anyone."

"Then he was in your world?" Splinter asked. "What happened?"

"I was beset by every single ninja in the country," Usagi said, unable to ignore the frustration he'd felt before calling on Leonardo. "I'd hoped that escaping into this world temporarily would shake them off my trail, but instead Leonardo had to keep them at bay while I took us to the Nexus."

For a moment he hesitated. Everything that happened before no longer seemed as important as asking his friend what led to the slaughter, and he didn't want to implicate Leonardo in something he may not be guilty of, especially not in front of his master.

"I am not sure what happened," he said slowly. "We traveled and fought together but then we were separated. When we met again, it was not on good terms."

"Usagi?"

"Master Splinter, please forgive my presumption, but I must speak with Leonardo. He alone can tell me if I am mistaken, if it was yet another ninja ruse that I simply did not understand."

Now Splinter hesitated. "Something very awful happened, didn't it?"

"Yes, but I'm not certain how bad. May I speak with him?"

Splinter stared at him for a few seconds, then nodded once. "Very well. He is in his room. He said he would be asleep but I doubt he is. I suggest you speak quickly. His brothers were out looking for him but they will be home soon. You may not have much time before they barge in."

"I understand. Thank you." Usagi bowed again and rose, but he paused at the door. "Master Splinter, I know very little of your world. Please, how different is a ninja's honor from that of a samurai?"

"Honor varies from clan to clan," Splinter said, carefully considering his words. "Ninja by our very nature must be more practical than samurai. But even in different guises, working for different goals, honor remains the same. We are different, we see life differently than you do. But our morality and our most basic tenets remain the same. Without a lord to serve, we protect our family and friends by whatever means necessary."

Usagi thought about that, then walked out. He knew where Leonardo's room lay from previous visits and made his way across the lair. For the first time, however, he stopped and truly looked at the lair, comparing it to the homes and places he had lived in all his life. Here there was no sun, no wind. Light came from artificial sources and merely held back the shadows. Whereas Usagi lived his entire life in the open air and enjoyed occasional companionship, Leonardo had only his family, his clan, who lived in the same concealing darkness. It was no wonder that their outlooks were so different at times.

At the top of the stairs, he took a deep breath to reassure himself. If he was right, then he had wronged his friend badly. But then Leonardo was not blameless in this, either. He peered into the room and waited for his eyes to adjust. True to Splinter's intuition, Leonardo was not asleep. Instead he sat in the far corner, a scroll spread across the floor. He stopped reading but he didn't look up.

"I didn't expect you to come here," Leonardo said softly.

"Neither did I," Usagi said. "May I come in?"

"Of course." He pushed two other scrolls out of the way to make room. "But why did you come? I thought you were rather clear last night."

"I was clear," Usagi said, sitting down in front of him. "But you were not. You hid something from me and I want to know why."

Leonardo looked up, but he didn't say anything.

"I saw them at an inn outside the town," Usagi explained. "Several women. I wouldn't have spared them a second glance, but one of them wore Nerai's crest. You let the women live. You let the servants live."

Neither spoke. And then Leonardo half-smiled and shook his head.

"Damn. I thought they'd hide better than that."

At the inn, Usagi had hoped to be proven wrong about Leonardo's actions. Now that he was, he found that he wasn't happy at all.

"You let me believe a lie?" he hissed. "Nearly severed our friendship, convinced me you were an honorless bastard, and for what? What could've been so important for you to lie to me?"

"I wasn't lying," Leonardo hurried to explain, leaning back from Usagi's palpable anger. "Not really. But I couldn't tell you the truth. All I could do was parrot back his own rule."

"Who's rule?" Usagi asked.

Leonardo opened his mouth to explain but he wasn't sure how to begin. "What do you know about ninja?"

"They are deceitful, treacherous and often infuriating," Usagi snapped.

Repressing the urge to snap back "are not," Leonardo forced himself to stay civil. "Besides that."

"Their services can be bought," Usagi said. "They are efficient assassins but they are also spies and thieves. They work in groups or alone. Other than that, I don't know."

"When we were traveling, I noticed a lot of shrines and idols everywhere. There are a lot of spirits in your world."

"Yes, and many don't have shrines or idols. What does this have to do with Nerai?"

"Priest Sanshobo said that he suspected the ninja hired by Nerai were just one part of a large trap set for me. He was right, but it wasn't Nerai who orchestrated everything." He spread the scroll out again between them. "It might surprise you to know that ninja know very little about ourselves, too. We've hidden our origins and encouraged rumors about our abilities to mask ourselves even further. You samurai can trace your families and clans back for generations. Our records are more like legends, and most of our names are never recorded on an ancestor tablet. We have no idea where we come from."

Usagi narrowed his eyes. "Leonardo, who did you meet in Nerai's home?"

"He didn't have a name. I guess it makes sense. If I didn't have my family, I would forget mine, too." He looked up at Usagi and breathed out, as if still stunned. "He was the first of my kind. He called himself a god and I don't think he was lying."

"You met a god?" Usagi whispered.

"Tch. Some god..."

When Leonardo didn't explain further, Usagi leaned forward and covered his hand with his own. "What happened?"

"He gave me a choice. If I didn't kill everyone inside the estate, he'd kill you."

"Me? But--"

"It was a test. He wanted to blight my honor so I'd have no recourse but to join him."

Usagi frowned. "But surely even then your family wouldn't turn cast you aside?"

"They wouldn't have to. I would."

Usagi stared at him for a moment in perfect understanding, but the moment didn't last long. "Wait, then why didn't you tell me what you had done?"

Leonardo blinked as if it was obvious. "I was already taking a chance by leaving the women alive. If I'd told you, he might have heard and then--" He cut himself off and glanced away. His voice dropped to a whisper. "It was bad enough I was gambling with your life."

"But," Usagi murmured, "I would've thought you were a murderer."

Leonardo didn't look up. "If you died...I can't even think--" His voice hitched.

Usagi's mouth parted in surprise. He hadn't dreamed that Leonardo's feeling for him ran so deep. Slowly, hesitating as if the ninja's skin might burn him, he put his hand under Leonardo's chin and tilted his face up until their eyes met.

"I would rather die," Usagi whispered, "than think you dishonorable."

There was no response Leonardo could think of. When Usagi tilted his head and leaned forward, he simply closed his eyes. The kiss that followed made the rest of the world disappear.

"Usagi..." Leonardo murmured. "I never would have thought that--you never acted like you were--"

"Nor did you," Usagi said. A small smirk crept over his face. "Your behavior was proper at all times. I look forward to seeing what you will do now that we need not be so proper."

Knowing he was blushing furiously and that he couldn't stop it, Leonardo was saved from a reply when the downstairs door slammed open and Raphael's angry voice echoed through the lair.

"Leo! Where the hell have you been?"

"Little brothers," Leonardo sighed. "I'm afraid we'll have to continue this later. I haven't told them anything yet and Raph sounds really pissed."

"Of course," Usagi said with a nod. "I would also like to hear the story. You didn't have time to tell me how you met Sanshobo."

Wondering how far he could edit the story and still seem believable, Leonardo rolled up the ancient scrolls he'd borrowed from Splinter and set them aside. He had plenty of time to look for clues and scraps of legends referring to the dark god. The first ninja belonged to the world of shadows and death, and for now his world had blossomed unexpectedly into light, like clouds parting after a storm.


End file.
